The Story Teller
by b does the write thing
Summary: Based off One Thousand and One Nights- The Dark One made a deal to protect the Middle Kingdom from Ogres in exchange for a bride. However, each year, the bride has been returned as a corpse and another taken away. When Lady Belle is sacrificed to save her kingdom, she finds her love of stories may just keep her alive. AU
1. Chapter 1

Based lightly off the gif set prompt of Belle being sold to the Dark One against her will and Arabian Nights.

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><p><em>Far and Away was a simple town of simple people. There was the Farmer and the Blacksmith. The town had their very own Merchant and Miller. And though the Dairy Maid was no longer a maid they still called her that anyways because that's what she had been. <em>

_In Far and Away, there lived a simple spinner. He had a home and a wife as men often do. He lived happily in his anonymity. The pair lived at the end of the lane in a small cottage where the town ended and the woods began. _

_Life was peaceful. Quiet. Comfortable. _

_Then, the War came._

_The Ogres didn't come like thunder. They came like the tide. _

_Slowly, market days became less crowded. The traveling tradesman stopped coming to town. The few that did brought news about monsters roaming the land, devouring all they came across._

_Occasional survivors wandered into the village. One armed men gasping for water. Women carried bags of bones begging food for their dead children. The insane and dying ended up in the square- screaming about the end. The end that was coming for them all. _

_The town people turned away. The Spinner's Wife stood at the well, mouth ajar in horrified disgust as her husband tried to hurry her away from the scene. The Midwife and the old Doctor were left to try and care for the strangers. But few survived. The horror was too great. _

_After a month of death, soldiers started riding into town. Purporting to be heralds of The Dark One, a powerful sorcerer, they promised the town of Far and Away safety from the faceless danger that was ravaging the land. _

_The town's mind was still full of the ravings and screaming of those who had fled the Ogres- the blood stains on the square's stones were still wet when the vote was cast. _

_Far and Away would bend knee to the Dark One for protection. He would keep their sleepy village safe from the destruction of the leviathans. _

_But all magic comes with a price. _

_That was the first lesson Far and Away learned from their new master. Yes, salvation was achieved but only at the cost of ten souls a year. _

_The first Reaping was almost celebratory. Every male in town lined up, dressed in their best clothes. The Spinner wore the shirt he had been married in. His Wife sewed trim onto his trousers. He shined his shoes until he could see his face in them. It was a plain face, starting to line and age but still bright with content. _

_But it was not to last. The Dark One arrived in the town square in a burst of black smoke, billowing out like greedy hands grasping for their throats. A few backed away from the tendrils, one or two young boys ran to join the women and children a few yards back. The silence was deafening. _

_By the end of the hour, ten men were gone. Four left widows, two left their mothers skirts and four left limping on canes. _

_None of them ever returned. _

_And so it went for the next ten years. Every Spring, the entire village came to the square. But it was no longer a joyous occasion. The village was thinning out. Women outnumbered the men ten to one now. Some young women had even left with traveling merchants to go to the nearest city, the port town of Cape, to find a town where the Ogre War did not hang heavy. _

_This year, the Spinner stood in a pair of ratty trousers, trim barely visible under the layers of dirt and grime. His burlap vest was itching his neck and his hair was long and uncut, curling about his neck in the spring humidity. _

_He was not surprised when the Dark One stopped before him, reaching out with one black scaly claw to mark his forehead with his touch. _

_He was not surprised to hear his wife crying to sleep in her blankets as he stared into the fire._

_And he was not surprised when he marched away to his death._

_The Spinner was however surprised when he found himself staring up into the gaping maw of an Ogre, blood trickling from the Ogre's latest kill onto his upturned face like rain- that he very much wanted to live._

_He wanted to return to his cottage. He wanted to spin. He wanted to slide into his wife and place life inside her. And he wanted to see tomorrow._

_And so, he ran._

_The Spinner ran and ran until he found himself at home, pounding on his door in the rain until his wife opened it. _

_He should not have been surprised when the town railed him as a coward and a worm. He should not have been surprised when his wife left for the Cape even though he begged and pleaded for her to stay. _

_And so he was not surprised when the Dark One's soldiers rode into town looking for the deserter. He was leaning against the well in the square waiting for them, bruises and cuts lining his face and arms. His leg broken in two places from the Blacksmith's hammer. _

_And so the Spinner disappeared into the Dark One's castle. And the town of Far and Away breathed easier- knowing the tenth soul would be reaped and they would be spared. _

_Until the next year's reaping brought it's own surprise. _

_For it was the Spinner, dark and terrible in leather and scales who threw the hood back from his twisted face, revealing himself to be the new Dark One. It was the Spinner laughing in a high-pitched giggle as he claimed the ten souls- slaughtering them where they stood. _

_And then he claimed ten more._

_And ten more._

_And ten more again. _

_Until the town of Far and Away was just a memory. _

_And the Dark One ruled the entire Northern Kingdom- the only Kingdom free of Ogres._

_For it was the only Kingdom empty of any living soul save his own. _

"Nan, don't be so dark," Belle criticized, not bothering to look up from the book she was translating. "Why do you insist on telling that story to the children when they're frightened enough?"

"It's not a story," the old crone swore, looking up from the circle of children surrounding her. "It's the truth!"

"Honestly, Nan," Belle sighed, sparing a warm but exasperated look to the old caretaker. "It's just a fairy tale designed to keep little ones from the Northern border."

"It's a warning!" Nan protested, shaking her iron gray curls in argument. "And a good one at that! Ain't none of these doves going to go flying off into that dangerous place after hearing that legend!"

The six young ones were glancing up at Belle shyly, obviously still scared silly from the croaking growl of Nan's voice. Snapping the book shut, Belle placed it in her lap. She leaned over in her seat to smile reassuringly at the children.

"Now, now," she murmured, brushing a tear from the smallest one's cheek. "You mustn't believe the Dark One is any danger to you here. You all are very smart and brave but you know the rules."

Belle turned her gaze to the oldest who was sitting at the edge of the group, nodding at him to speak.

"Don't' go past the Northern field," the young boy answered in rote. He had twisted his jacket into knots in his lap, knuckles white against the blue fabric.

"And why is that?" Belle asked softly, encouraging him to continue.

"Because… cause…," the boy said nervously, licking his lips as he avoided her eye.

"Or else the Ogres will get us!" Piped up one young girl in front. Belle smiled at her, reaching out to pull one blonde pigtail in approval.

"That's right!" Belle agreed. "Our walls have protected us for two centuries from the Ogres and they will continue to do so. We just have to have hope."

"Hope?" Snorted Nan from the other side of the children. "Fat good that will do us when the Ogres break down the gates to grind our bones to make their bread."

"Nan!" Belle said in horror, mouth falling open in shock at the old woman's blunt statement.

"Tis true, pet," the old woman sighed. She stood, shaking slightly as she placed her hand on her aching hip. "The gates may have held but after years of erosion, they are weak. And those monsters know it."

Belle pursed her lips together, eyes glaring at the old woman to be silent but Nan was already limping away. Belle did not go after her or dare rebuke her further. The old woman was growing weak and getting more and more difficult these days.

Nan had lost her three sons to the war and now her only grandson was presumed dead. His mother, Nan's youngest daughter, had thrown herself from the tower walls in her grief- leaving Nan alone in the world.

"Lady Belle?"

Broken from her reprieve, Belle glanced down at the young girl in pigtails who was standing timidly before her. "I'm sorry, yes dear?"

"Lady Belle, is that the end of the story?"

"Oh," Belle murmured, finger running along the edge of the book's spine in her lap. "Yes, that's all for today, children. Now, you best be getting to your rooms before it gets dark. Run along, I'll see you all tomorrow."

The young ones clambered to their feet in an ungraceful eddy of limbs and chatter- disappearing down the rows of books in the library. Their footsteps and voices echoed before fading along the castle's walls.

Belle stood, wiping the wrinkles from her day dress when she heard the slow tread of Nan approaching. She looked up to find the older woman frowning at her in disappointment.

"How you going to lie to those precious lambs like that?" Nan rebuked, shaking her head. "Some of them are old enough to know better. None of them have parents because of the Deal-"

"Enough, Nan," Belle whispered, placing a hand on her forehead to stem the growing ache. "The Deal and that fairy tale are two completely different things."

"Oh?" Nan said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "And then why has the Middle Kingdom withered away these past hundred years? Why are there only six children in the whole of the land?"

"Nan," Belle said, a tinge of steel lending warning to her tone. "Enough. Is my father still in court?"

"He's with his advisors," Nan shared, sniffing angrily. "And I'll be telling those lambs about our own deal with evil tomorrow morning, whether you like or not my Lady. They deserve to know why they're all orphans, poor things."

"They're too young," Belle said urgently. "Nan, please- they won't understand-"

"What's to understand?" Nan ignored her, waving her pleas away. "Your Great Great Grandfather made a deal with The Dark One for gates to last two hundred years. Everyone knows magic comes with a price."

"But they're children," Belle repeated, blushing slightly and glancing away from Nan's glare. "They won't-"

"They won't understand why that Beast demanded a bride in return for this protection?"

Belle nodded, biting her lip in frustration at her own embarrassment. Honestly, she read. She knew the kind of things a husband and wife did in the dark of their chambers. She had been in birthing chambers since she was eleven- she had seen the miracle of birth. She had also walked the halls of the sick room, seen men die in agony or slip away in unconsciousness never to wake again.

But still, she could not meet Nan's eye.

"Can you imagine the dismay they felt- the day they offered the first woman to the Beast?" Belle shook her head no, feeling the familiar nausea at the Deal. "Or the horror when dawn came exactly one year later and her dead body was lying in front of the gates- him sitting bold as you please on the gate tower, cackling like a insane man as he ordered them to find him a new bride?"

"The Deal was struck," Belle whispered, clutching the book to her chest. "And our lands have been safe from the destruction of the Ogres for near two hundred years."

"And how many have died?" Nan whispered angrily. "Two of my girls gone, returned to me as pale corpses dressed in silk. What he did to them-"

"He's a monster," Belle snapped. "I don't deny it. But until the Wall falls or a Bride survives- it's the only way to keep people alive. Every woman who signs up for the Deal knows that. And her family eats well for the year in payment of her sacrifice."

Nan opened her mouth to argue but Belle cut her off, "And every boy who goes to War knows he might be the one who ends the Ogre War- who saves his sister from the Beast. I would sign my name if my father would allow it. I would have signed it the day I turned eighteen."

Nan's anger was fading, she looked deflated and gray in the face of Belle's ire. And she nodded sadly, eyes finding Belle's. "Ai, Lady, I know. You're a good woman and you'll make a fine wife to Sir Gaston."

"I don't want to be a wife-" Belle sighed, walking past Nan towards the exit of the library. "I want to be the one who finds an end to all this madness."

Lost in her thoughts, Belle didn't realize where she was headed until she stood before the doors to her father's private study. They were closed, two guards standing at attention outside, meaning the council was within. The windows across from her showed the moon had started to rise, it was early evening and dinner would be called shortly.

For a moment, she debated going back to her own rooms. She could finish translating the runes in her current book- it was an interesting guide on the stars and how to navigate based on them and she was looking forward to testing it in the highest tower one evening.

However, her argument with Nan was still fresh and her heart was racing. Belle strode to the doors, ignoring the two men and threw them open. She heard the rattle of armor and startled voice of the two guards as they tried to grab her back but she strode forward, head thrust proudly up.

"Papa," she said, voice ringing in the high vaulted rafters of the Lord Maurice's private chambers. "You must do something about Nan- she's-"

But Lord Maurice never learned what he must do about Nan, for while he quickly moved to stand in front of his only daughter; he was not quick enough to hide what was going on.

"Ooooooh," giggled a voice. "And who is this?"

Belle looked up at her father, his sad and aged face sagged in the jowls and he had bags under his eyes- puffy and swollen from nights of not sleeping. He was a broken man.

"Papa?" Belle whispered, locking her eyes on his blue ones. "Papa, what's going on?"

"Belle, I –"

"I'm growing bored," the voice interrupted. "You called me here to help save your precious kingdom and end up ignoring me. How inconsiderate."

"Belle," Lord Maurice was saying, but his voice was thick and it was breaking. "I love you, my darling girl. I love you so much-"

Before Belle could say a word, he thrust her out before him. She fell to her knees in confusion. Her arms hit the ground with a crack as her body flashed in pain.

There was utter silence in the room except her heartbeat in her own ears. A sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach made her woozy as the sting of her bruised limbs began to set in. She glanced warily up more out of fear than curiosity. She already knew exactly what she was kneeling prostate before.

Two tall riding boots, black with inky purple laces traced up two calves. Leather breeches, fitted tightly to a pair of lean thighs and tight hips where a black brocade jacket dipped down, ending in two sharp points along the back of the thighs. A jerkin vest was pulled taunt over a wiry chest, and a scaled clawed hand was resting thoughtfully one hip, the other was curled in the air by the face of the Dark One.

Belle swallowed, meeting the dark black eyes- glowing yellow in the lights of the candelabra hanging from the rafters. His face was pointed and sharp like the edges of an axe. His yellow rotted smile was oozing hatred like an open wound.

"Papa," Belle whimpered. She tried to crawl backwards, her day gown caught between her thighs. She ended up sitting on her elbows, eyes glazed in fear.

"Ah, so this is the brave daughter you were telling me so much about," the Dark One laughed. "And yet, she cries and shakes just like the lowest peasant girls. How telling."

"Enough," Lord Maurice was saying, voice thick. "Do we have a deal?"

"Another hundred years the wall will stand," the Beast sang. Belle slowly found her feet, swaying uneasily as she stood, eyes never leaving the gaze of the snake before her. She couldn't look away, not even if she tried. She felt the panic of the thousand women before her in the pit of her stomach.

"I don't know," the thing said, eyeing her. "I think she's about to be sick. I hate the ones that get sick."

Belle swallowed the bile in her throat, the hot burning of it making her dry heave despite herself. The Dark One cocked an eyebrow at her in disgust before turning to someone behind her.

"Yes, I suppose we do. I take the Lady Belle as my Bride. In return for this noble act, the walls will stand for another hundred years."

"But she is the last-"

"Hmph," The Dark One grunted, twitching a finger at the gathered men. Belle turned her head to see all the heads of state standing in the shadows, a few looking like scared children and the others looking like dead men in the green light of the evening's moon. "That's not part of the deal. The original Deal states that until you find me a suitable bride- I'll continue returning those that don't please me. I just require a higher initial payment as it were on this particular agreement- make sure you know what you are agreeing to."

A few mutterings from the councilors but Lord Maurice raised his hand to still them. "My ancestor did not have a daughter to give so he sacrificed the women of his land with a heavy heart. But he did not understand their grief. And now, you ask me for my only daughter, knowing it's her life you are truly asking for." Belle swallowed, tears falling freely as she watched her father speak.

'And perhaps I will be thought of as stronger than my ancestor. For I will know every parent's pain as their daughter walks out those gates and into your embrace. And we all will know the price we paid for the safety of the land was bought by our daughters."

"Are you done?" The Beast drawled, raising a brow in consternation. "Why, you're even more longwinded than the last one.'

Every daydream Belle had ever had of offering herself as one of the Brides was nothing compared to this moment. She had thought she would be strong, proud, every inch the Lady of the Middle Kingdom and instead- she felt like screaming, running, begging the men she had grown up with to save her. She saw Sir Gaston by the door, his sword hand on his hilt but he did not look at her. His eyes were focused on Lord Maurice, avoiding hers.

"Please," Belle begged, turning to her father. "Papa…I don't want to die-"

She gripped his arms with her hands, leaning on him as she begged. His fingers grasped her gloved elbows, squeezing tightly in response. For a moment, she thought he was going to change his mind.

"Take her and be damned," Lord Maurice said. His voice broke as he closed his eyes against the sight of the Dark One springing forward with a cackle.

"Come now, dearie," he crowed. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her tight, smiling at her father with a wicked leer. Lord Maurice turned his back, and Belle hated him for a moment. Hated him for not having the strength to watch the end of his bargain. The Dark One snapped his fingers. "We have only a few hours left till midnight."

And the dark swirls of smoke surrounded her. And everything she ever knew disappeared from her sight.

She was horrified to find she cried.

XxXxXxX

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><p>Author's Notes<p>

Um. I didn't mean to?


	2. Chapter 2

_Time passed, as it is wont to do. _

_To the south of the barren Northern lands, there lay a land of prosperity and joy, the Middle Kingdom._

_It was ruled over by a wise and beloved King and his son, the noble and handsome Prince. The lands were fertile and the river land's forest was teeming with life. From the poorest peasant to the King himself, the people of the Middle Kingdom wanted for nothing._

_Happiness was abundant. The people had hope in their hearts and no fear of the darkness. They lived in blissful ignorance of the evils that lingered to the north of their home. _

_But they could not stop the end from coming no more than they could stem the tide. _

_And so one fateful morning, as the handsome Prince was riding along the main road, he noticed the smoke. _

_A once flourishing village lay burned and razed to the ground. Bones lay scattered in the ashes, buildings were torn down to their foundations and massive footprints dug deep into the ground. There were no survivors. _

_The Ogres had arrived in the Middle Kingdom. _

_Within weeks, the land was dying. Villagers fled to the great castle stronghold at the capital of the Kingdom for sanctuary. Braver souls fled to the Southern Isles where they hoped to be save from the destruction. And the King grew old and sick with fear as he saw his people suffer. _

_It was then, in their darkest hour that the old woman appeared. Grizzled and bent, she hobbled forward into the King's Halls to whisper the tales from her girlhood in the North. _

_She spoke of a powerful sorcerer who lived there. Their salvation if they were willing to pay the price. _

_The Prince scoffed at her, ordering her to be taken away and thrown into the dungeons for her dangerous words. But the King stilled his guards. His heart was ever darkening with the horror of the dead. He ordered the woman to speak the name of their would be savior. _

_Thus, she whispered the Dark One's name into the King's ears and fell down dead at his feet. _

_The story of the Dark One, the potential savior, spread. The people cried for their King to let him save them. The Prince railed against their fears, begging his father to ride into battle against the Ogres instead of playing with magic he could not control._

_But the King was too paralyzed from fear. And he could do nothing but stare out the window at the dying land, watching as more and more of his people rode to his castle as fires burned in the distance. _

_The noble Prince could not stand his people's pain or his father's weakness. One fair morning, he kissed his Princess and young son goodbye. Then, he rode out of the castle gates- a massive host behind him of knights and noblemen all dressed in splendid armor with banners flying behind them. _

_The King watched his only son ride to battle._

_And then a week later, he saw a lone horse amble to the gates of the stronghold. The rider lay half dead on his back- one arm torn clean off and legs shattered beneath him. The knight raved and screamed for a week as he lay dying. The only words anyone could understand though were simple._

_Dead. They're all dead._

_And that is when the King went to the highest room in the tallest tower and said the name of the Dark One three times into the wind. _

_And so the Deal was struck. _

_The next morning, the people of the Middle Kingdom awoke to find a large stonewall encircling the lands. All ogres had vanished from the Kingdom but they could see their fires burning on the horizon past the walls._

_The people rejoiced, praising the Dark One for their salvation._

_But all magic comes with a price._

_That was the last lesson the people of the Middle Kingdom learned from the First Ogre War._

_Life went on. _

_But the Ogres had infected the land with their evil. The land withered and the rains no longer came. The once large and diverse Kingdom was now a castle stronghold with a few outlying villages. _

_And at first in their relief, no one noticed the disappearance of the King's most trusted advisor's only daughter. Not until a year later when her body was found laying at the castle gate dressed in stained silks. _

_Trumpets blared and the few men left behind in the castle guard rushed to the gate only to find the Dark One himself- dark and terrible- watching all the commotion. _

_The King came to his balcony to see what he had reaped. And when he saw the dead girl with her dreadful husband laughing over her dead body, he knew his son had been right. _

_From that day on, the entire kingdom knew what their safety had been bought with. Young women were asked to volunteer. A few did. And every year, another body was returned to the King's door. _

_Soon, there were no more volunteers. On the yearly date, a woman was chosen at random by the people and carried to her doom. _

_No one was safe. _

_Sometimes it was a young woman, beautiful and fair. Other times it was an old hag, hated and despised. Mothers, daughters, crones- all were sacrificed to the Dark One's whim. And every year, a body was returned. _

_The King died a broken man. His people appointed him The Dealer King and spat at his name. For people are fickle things. They had already forgotten their pleas to be saved, content to hate their savior and protector instead of the threat looming over the wall._

_When the King died, his young grandson took the throne. His first act as King was to demand an end to the sacrificial witch-hunts. All women who wished to volunteer themselves could sign their names after their eighteen birthdays. Their entire family would eat well for the year for their sacrifice._

_He also vowed to honor the memory of his noble father who had warned the kingdom of the dangers of trusting magic to save them. The Boy King began the Second Ogre War- creating an army of volunteers to ride out the gates when the year's Bride disappeared to wage war against the true enemy. _

_And with the cunning Boy King at the helm, the host did great battle with the Ogres, pushing them back slightly and learning the things could indeed be killed. But for every Ogre that fell, ten men did as well. _

_And so, the Middle Kingdom withered and shrank. And two hundred years slowly passed._

_But the walls grow weak._

_And the Ogres are waiting. _

"Oh, do stop sniveling. You're getting the floor wet."

Wiping her tears from her cheeks, Belle turned away from the voice. Her breath still came in jerking heaves through the tears but she wouldn't let him see.

She could hear him moving about behind her, the odd rustling of his leathers the only sound he seemed to make. She strained to listen, eyes fixed ahead of her as the tears continued to fall despite her best efforts to stem them.

They had arrived in a cloud of smoke into a room of stone. The floor was grey slabs smoothed under her feet and the walls were jagged and rugged- almost as if the room had been hewn out of solid rock. There were no tapestries or windows in her current sightline. She didn't dare turn around.

"Tick, tock," came the giggling reminder. "The night is getting on, dearie."

"Don't," Belle whispered.

"Mm," the thing drawled. "Did you say something, dearie? Didn't quite catch that."

"I said," Belle repeated as she turned, slightly louder. Her neck straightened and her head tilted back as she found some untapped strength in her anger. "Don't call me that."

"What?" He said in mock surprise. He raised his hands in a derisive shrug, wiggling them like worms at her. "Whatever am I to call you then?"

"My name is Lady Belle French of the Middle Kingdom, daughter of Lord Maurice, Stewart of the Throne."

He squinted his face in thought, finally muttering, "It's a bit of a mouthful."

"Belle, then," she acquiesced. Her anger was fading, leaving her exhausted and shaking.

"Belle," he said, tasting it. "Names are a powerful thing. Perhaps you should think twice before giving yours out so freely."

"But you are my husband," Belle corrected, careful to keep her voice steady. "All that I have is yours now."

His golden eyes flashed at her at this, something dark swimming beneath his jovial act. She tried not to blink, only breaking her gaze when something caught her attention beyond him.

"Is that a –"

Her voice dwindled away as she took a few steps to her left, careful not to go nearer to him but wanting a better angle.

A bed lay at the back of the room. A single wooden door, crisscrossed with blackened iron stood next to it.

The message was clear.

She turned her eyes back to him. But she found he was no longer standing where he had been.

"A bed?"

She jumped, spinning around to find the creature inches behind her. He was grinning, his rotten teeth crooked and stained.

"Yes it is, very astute. They did tell me you were clever."

Her eyes flickered from the bed back to her husband, heart thudding feebly in its cage.

Husband.

Certainty there had been no wedding. But somehow Belle knew that didn't matter here. Not in this forgotten place.

"Now," he whispered, taking a step towards her. "It is our wedding night. We mustn't waste too much time –"

He stalked forward and Belle took shaky steps backwards. He was no longer grinning. Now, his face was filled with intent. Belle felt a wave of panic at the idea of lying with a murderous reptilian sorcerer.

She knew the ways of men and women. She had found those books before she was sixteen… but- was this creature even a man in that way?

The pale face of the only Bride she had ever seen in person floated to her mind- a young woman with pale blonde hair and porcelain skin. She wondered if this was the same bed she had lain on-

As her knees unexpectedly hit the edge of the bed, she sat abruptly. Her day dress rustled around her.

Directly in front of her, he bent down so they were face to face. She could see her wide brown eyes reflected in his golden stare. He slowly lifted his hand, fingers poised to snap when Belle blurted out, "Wait!" grasping his hand within her own small ones.

The Dark One looked down at their hands, his clawed fingers lost under her palms. He was warm, Belle realized as the thin skin of her fingers scratched across his scales. Warmer than the cool room they were in should allow for a cold-blooded creature such as a snake.

She filed that thought away as he opened his mouth in a scathing retort. She cut him off, "But I haven't given you my wedding present yet, husband."

His mouth stilled, opening slightly before closing. His eyes were watching her, but the darkness she had seen moments ago lifted slightly. He cocked his head to the right, wisps of the long silver hair falling around his jaw as he regarded her in silence.

"I'll admit it surprising," he finally said, eyes searching hers. "I hadn't expected a Lady such as yourself to be so forthcoming in that regard. Most of the higher born are particularly squeamish when it comes to matters of the wedding bed."

"What?" Belle said in confusion, furrowing her brow. But then it lightened on her and she released his hand with a frown. "How dare you- I'm not – that's not what I meant at all!"

He quirked a brow at her. His amusement was evident in his smirk. "Some Brides have been most willing," he whispered, pressing closer to her. She willed herself not to shrink back, keeping her head raised high. He lowered his lips to her ear, his breath tickling her lobe, "They were eager to see what the Dark One could offer them that their peasant boys could not."

"And the others?" Belle snapped, pulling away and turning to face him. Their noses were inches apart. "The ones who cried and begged as they were dragged to the gates?"

"Oh those," he said, plopping down on the bed beside her. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Tedious cows. Cried for hours."

Belle closed her eyes at this. Hours. Not days. Or weeks. They only had hours.

"Tick, tock," he sang in her ear, hot breath tickling her neck. Belle shuddered despite her best intentions. He breathes like a man, she thought. Perhaps he is mortal after all.

His fingers were inching up her arm and she felt him pull down the sleeve off her shoulder, exposing her thin shift's straps.

"My gift," she reminded him, shrugging her shoulder out of his grasp and pulling her sleeve back up. He frowned at her, obviously displeased at her insistence.

"Fine," he muttered, crossing his arms. "Let's have the Lady's gift before we have our wedding night."

She opened her mouth to speak but he surprised her.

"Or shall I give you your wedding gift first, Belle?" He laughed at her surprised expression, a high-pitched giggle like a child who won at play. "Oh yes, I give all my Brides a gift on the night of our wedding."

"And what is your gift, husband?" Belle asked. She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead. She could still see him out of the corner of her eye. He was playing with something in his hands now, a gold glittering thing.

She turned to stare at it, a thin golden thread. A bracelet perhaps? But it was too long, it seemed to loop around his wrist a few times and still it hung slack in his grasp.

"A necklace?" She asked, confused.

"Ah," he said, wagging a finger at her. The gold dipped and shifted as he toyed with it, loops and circles, squares and triangles forming as he moved his wrists in a fluid movement. "A deal."

"A deal?" Belle repeated breathlessly, eyes watching the golden thread.

"Hmm," he agreed. "There's that cleverness again."

She flashed a look at him but he did not catch her eye. Belle had the oddest feeling he was joking with her but the moment passed.

'Indeed. The Deal is simple. The door beside you is unlocked. You are free to go at anytime. You can walk out that door and it will take you to where you most want to be in this world."

"But?" Belle asked, aware of the price he was not mentioning.

"But," he continued, dipping the gold into a spiral. "Unless you possess the love of your husband, you will die the instant you cross the threshold."

"Oh." It was the only thing Belle could manage.

He had made them kill themselves. Face a lifetime of this room with this beast or end it all with a single step.

"Do you like my present, wife?" He asked, silkily. He draped the chain around her neck, looping it twice so it hung in loops across her collarbone.

"You're a monster," Belle hissed. She didn't dare move, she felt his clawed fingers tracing the side of her neck. The gold chain chilled her skin in the chilly room. "You gave them a choice between slavery and suicide-"

"And some took the coward's way out," he continued, nodding with a gleeful smile. "Some even thought they had true love waiting for them at home. And we all know true love can break any curse.'

'Guess they were wrong," he sang in a high-pitched giggle.

"And the others?" Belle asked, fingers gripping her skirts.

"Why a few have lasted months with me," he shared, fingers burying in her hair. She felt him plucking out the pinning, curls spilling down over her back. "But eventually they all tried to leave. As if after months of their declarations of adoration and carnality equaled love," he scoffed. He leaned in and buried his nose in her hair, taking a deep breath. Belle closed her eyes against the feel of him, the urge to scream rising in her throat.

'Now," he whispered. "It is our wedding night, wife."

"But my present to you-" She interrupted, turning and placing a hand on his knee. He stilled his exploration, eyes glittering down on her pale hand across his black leather breeches.

"Well, get on with it," he grunted, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What is it? A lock of your hair? A gold ring?"

For a brief second, Belle's confidence wavered. She had nothing to offer, nothing but-

A soft smile curved her lips and for the first time since she had stepped through Lord Maurice's door, Belle found her footing.

"No, husband," Belle said, smiling slightly at him in the darkness. "Tis a story."

"A story?" He echoed, his voice oddly lower than his usual trill. "What on earth do I want with a story?"

"You gave me your gift already," Belle pointed out. "We can't have our wedding night until I give you mine."

His golden eyes glared at her, suspicion and distrust reflected in his body language. She couldn't help but glory at his obvious disappointment. Serves him right, she thought triumphantly.

"Fine," he mumbled, waving a hand at her. "Quick then, tick tock."

Belle licked her lips. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Belle reached down deep into her well of stories. All the books she had devoured as a child, all the books she had researched in late nights when she couldn't sleep- this was the moment she had been preparing for her entire life without ever realizing it.

When she opened her eyes, he was sitting petulantly next to her. He looked like a child angry at being sent to bed without his dessert. She found the analogy so amusing she relaxed despite herself. This just caused him to frown harder.

And so, Belle begun.

"Once upon a Time…"

* * *

><p>Author's Notes<p>

I hope you all enjoyed the second installation! The stories began next time!

PS: I hope a few of you noticed the Crocodile reference I slipped in!


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